Fitness Training
Ironman world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay reveals how running became her ultimate stress reliever - and how you can experience runner’s high too.
British triathlete and Ironman world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay wasn’t always a natural runner. Before dominating the world of triathlon, she was a competitive swimmer, and in a 2023 episode of the Why I Run podcast, she admitted that running didn’t come easily at first. But over time, it became her ultimate stress reliever. Now, she shares how anyone can embrace running and experience the runner’s high.
“I definitely have this almost euphoric feeling when I get in from a run, like I've really achieved something. I just feel like I can go to a different place – I can clear my mind if there's any stress in my life – and just have that feel-good feeling.”
Of course, you can’t experience that feeling if you don’t get out the door in the first place, and for Charles-Barclay, the key is setting attainable goals. When it comes to starting a running training plan, she advises:
“It might just be, ‘You know what? I'm going to try and run every single day, or I'm going to run a couple of times a week. And I'm going to try and hit a certain amount of kilometres per week.’ So it doesn't need to be a huge goal. But it's something that motivates you enough to want to do it.”
Setting goals isn’t just a way to improve physically. It can also pay off when it comes to the mental benefits of running. Charles-Barclay explains:
“I think that's it's a really good thing for your mental health to have things to work towards. It keeps you focussed, it keeps you in check. And it also keeps you accountable, which is really, really important… There's no greater feeling than, ‘Yep, I've achieved that one!’”
I think that's it's a really good thing for your mental health to have things to work towards.
Check out the episode below, and find more running inspiration by listening to the full podcast series and following Why I Run on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon and wherever you listen to podcasts.